There are days when everything happens on the same day. Like yesterday when our household had a sick Mama and a Papa who took the 4:40 AM train to D.C. arriving back home at 7:45 PM when the kids were bathed and ready for bed. I could have probably manned the decks myself. Probably. Definitely. But I didn’t have to because help arrived with chicken soup (seriously) and a spare set of hands to occupy children who needed attention. I never pictured my dad, a colonel in the former soviet army, as someone who will toddle on the floor with a demanding infant and a rambunctious little girl. But toddle, diaper, feed, and sing he did and with enthusiasm and grace that melted my heart.
Of all the things my father has done in his life, of all his accolades, this one job, the one that doesn’t come with any medals is perhaps one he is best at. Without a doubt, he wins the grandparent of the week, month award. Simply because he was there.
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